Sunday, June 26, 2016

Here they are, some of the state's fighters to stop Duke Energy from polluting people's wells at their coal ash dumps and moving it around the state. We'll win, too. Here's the letter they sent Friday, June 24, 2016, to the North Carolina General Assembly. How just, how true, how necessary for the people of North Carolina and their leaders to listen and respond and do the only right thing, which is articulated so well in this letter. Judy Hogan, Chair of Chatham Citizens Against Coal Ash Dump.***To the Members of the N.C. General Assembly:Since the Dan River coal ash spill in February 2014, seldom has a day passed in North Carolina when coal ash is not in the news; the disposition of coal ash in North Carolina is of vital importance to public health and the environment. Our communities are being profoundly impacted: some of us already living day to day with contaminated water and air, and others are facing new impacts in areas which have been targeted for the disposal of coal ash.During the summer of 2015, North Carolina communities previously impacted by coal ash, and those currently dealing with new coal ash landfills, joined together with a shared vision and common goal to form the Alliance of Carolinians Together (ACT) Against Coal Ash. Believing that the coal ash emergency in North Carolina deserves a real, comprehensive solution that will protect all communities, we crafted the ACT Against Coal Ash unifying principles. A few of the key principles are below, and the full document reads:We call on N.C. decision makers and Duke Energy to strive for a permanent solution to coal ash that prioritizes community safety. We demand that any coal ash that cannot be safely recycled or processed be stored on Duke Energy property with the company maintaining liability. We will not accept dumping of the ash in other communities or capping-in-place as solutions. We demand that the ash be urgently isolated from ground and surface water at all locations.http://actagainstcoalash.nccoalash.org/index.php/unifying-principles/Please don’t let this short session close without taking action to assure that communities near coal ash sites have safe replacement water supplies as soon as possible, that communities facing new coal ash landfills are protected and that cleanups move forward quickly, with no “capping in place.”We believe that all people, regardless of race and socio-economic class, have a right to healthy communities, clean water, clean air, and safe food and soil.We believe that living in close proximity to coal ash infringes on these basic rights.We demand a transparent process to coal ash cleanup in which Duke Energy and N.C. decision makers are open and honest about the health effects of chemicals found in coal ash, and any plans for disposal or recycling coal ash.We call on Duke Energy and N.C. decision makers to urgently respond to the need to test any water supply well that may have been contaminated by coal ash, not just those with 1,000 feet. The tests must be paid for by Duke and performed by an independent lab using the most sensitive and comprehensive testing methods.We call on N.C. decision makers to require Duke Energy to pay for independent oversight of the coal ash cleanup process, independent analysis of current coal ash contamination, research by public and private entities to find the best solutions to this problem, and random and unannounced inspections of the coal ash sites by state regulators.We demand that N.C. decision makers and Duke Energy prioritize worker safety during all phases of coal ash cleanup and site remediation.We call on N.C. decision makers and Duke Energy to strive for a permanent solution to coal ash that prioritizes community safety. We demand that any coal ash that cannot be safely recycled or processed be stored on Duke Energy property with the company maintaining liability. We will not accept dumping of the ash in other communities or capping-in-place as solutions. We demand that the ash be urgently isolated from ground and surface water at all locations.We call on Duke Energy and N.C. decision makers to invest in a sustainable, healthy, affordable, and responsible energy future for N.C. that supports the growth of solar, wind energy, and energy efficiency programs, and moves away from coal, natural gas, and other harmful and expensive methods of generating power that poison communities and affect North Carolinians’ quality of life.As our elected representatives you have the opportunity - and responsibility - to do what is right for the residents of North Carolina. We call on the General Assembly to make sure no community is left to suffer from coal ash now, or in the future.Sincerely, The Alliance of Carolinians Together Against Coal Ash actagainstcoalash.org Individual community representatives:Bobby Jones, representing Down East Coal Ash Coalition, Goldsboro Caroline Armijo, representing Residents for Coal Ash Cleanup, Belews Creek Roger Hollis, representing residents near Cliffside / Rogers Energy ComplexDebbie Baker and Amy Brown, representing neighbors of Allen Steam StationJeri Cruz-Segarra, representing residents near Asheville Steam StationJohn Wagner and Judy Hogan, representing Chatham Citizens Against Coal Ash DumpDeborah B. Graham, representing neighbors of Buck Steam Station***

On May 14, several of the justice fighters from ACT came to hear the words of Duke University scientist Avner Vengosh, and former NIEHS scientist George Lucier, speak about coal ash contamination.

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Photo of one of my white rock hens by John Ewing***Can Flowers Change Your Life? XIII.March 13, 2016Somehow the Universe is sending light to me, sanctioning what I write, what I do, and even who I am. –Can Flowers Change Your Life? IV.Begin at the beginning. Carefor ourselves and others. Listen tothe voice within. The more we listen,the more we hear. The work growsharder, but the rewards come faster.Other people’s love and nurturingnow sustain me. Everything I’m doinghelps the good in that ongoing earthlywar between the good and the evil.Let me be thankful and acquiesce. –Can Flowers Change Your Life? VII.Yes, I have too many gifts, butI see now how not one will be wasted.Everything I am and feel and do is part of this side of my watershed. I move down into the valley, but Iknow whatever comes to meet mewill be part of the good I’m here to do.All I need is patience and to pay closeattention. The flowers that surround mepromise all will be well. – Can Flowers Change Your Life? VIII.I walk my farm looking for change.The purple shamrock is inching throughits oak leaf cover. I rake it back. Thehydrangea has green tips with infant leaves.Figs, too, feel the sudden warmth afterso many icy days. Pear blossoms swarminto the tree whose height defies pruning.The redbuds risk blooms. It’s all riskwith the last average freeze date weeksaway. My life is all risk, too. Where Iwalk to dig and plant, weed, and gatherfood are stumps and stems, holes androcks so easily causing me to stumbleor lurch. I put out my arms to balance,hold onto a limb or a fence, or simplystop and re-balance. I can’t lose anymore. I need my organic, homegrownfood, and the way farming makes mestretch and use all my body parts. WillI be able to keep hens in my nineties?Not if I don’t do it in my eighties. Useit or lose it. I walk more slowly, but Ido walk and carry feed and water, digout chickweed and grass clumps, chicken delicacies. They come running,scatter when I toss in weed clumps,then rush back. It’s my challenge to death. I will leave my hope behind for others.

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Can Flowers Change Your Life? XII.March 6, 2016Wind rocks the tops of the pines,loosens old, useless needles,holds new green ones out to sun.When the wind is high, the smalloak branches and large dead limbsfall. I gather kindling. I want to besturdy these last years, keepbalancing, hands out, when my bodyleans too far one way or another.You lose the power when you don’tuse it, whether muscular or mental.I walk more slowly, hold on to thefences, avoid Wag’s vole holes, but I can still shovel, hoe, and rake.I can cut firewood. I can plant seedsand water them. Each day brings morework, but each day I finish one joband start another. I live the way I want to live. I dodge my enemies’ arrows and take strength from those who comfort me. All the gardendaffodils have risen to give me white light at night, nodding pale yellow by day. They lift up their bonnets in spite of my neglect of their bed. As soon as I removed the dead stalks from last year’s flowers, they burst intowhite flame. How much morecomforted can a human being be? I have no excuses. All I have to dois my very best. The rest is in the Universe’s capable hands.

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Abductions and Lies: A Jesse Damon Crime Novel by K.M. Rockwood Wildside Press, $14.99. Paper. ISBN: 9781479420261, 203 pages. E-book, $2.99. Available from www.wildsidepress.com and Amazon.comI greeted the new and sixth Jesse Damon novel with joy. I’ve read Rockwood’s first five and was so glad she found Wildside Press to keep her series going. After I finished reading it, I asked myself why I enjoy Jesse’s adventures so much.Jess is a paroled ex-con, who was in prison twenty years, from age sixteen, for murder. He didn’t kill anyone, but was literally “holding the bag” in a robbery that ended in murder. Adapting to the outside world has been tough for him, and he is often the “person of interest” whenever a new crime is committed, if there’s a remote chance he could be involved. Then his experience fulfills that saying: “No good deed goes unpunished.”When Jesse tries to help other people, he usually ends up a suspect, but he keeps on doing it. He feels he can’t explain his behavior to the police because they never believe him. So he lies. Sometimes it works and sometimes it fails miserably.In a freak car accident that hit a light pole and took out that part of the city’s electricity, he leaves his job at Steel Fabrications about 3 a.m. and is walking home when the police arrest him and show him to a woman who claims he’s the one who tried to hijack her car. This isn’t the first time he has been wrongly arrested. Parolees have few rights, and this time they don’t even process him according to the rules they should follow. There have been several abductions and murders of women recently in the area where Jesse lives and works. It wouldn’t take much for him to be sent back to prison and be stuck there the rest of his life.One of his regular tormentors is Carissa Daniles who works for the Rothberg Register and rarely checks her facts. She shows up like a bad penny whenever Jesse is arrested and here she is this time to see him fingered as the man who car-jacked the latest victim. By the next morning Jesse’s photo is plastered on the front page of the Register saying he’s a suspect in the Riverfront Murders. Furthermore she has been dating Belton, the policeman who loves to harass Jesse, and does again, once he’s at the jail.In the cell with him is Kyle, who was arrested for embezzlement. Jesse helps him calm down so he doesn’t make their situation in a shared cell any worse than it already is.To Jesse’s surprise both he and Kyle are brought before a judge to determine whether they can be bailed out. Jesse had never had enough money to be released on bail. He had found a money clip the watchman at work must have dropped (he recognized Steb’s clip) right before he was arrested. He found out it contained $3000 when they took away his belongings to lock him up. He’s tempted to use it if bail is set, but keeps to his plan to return it to the watchman.To his surprise bail is not only granted, but paid, and he is free to go. He discovers that his landlord Jumbo George had sent his lawyer to free him and paid the 10% bond. Jesse is working part-time for George fixing up some old buildings he has bought, so he’ll let Jesse work off what he owes him. Kyle, also released, is angry at his wife and vice versa, and he and needs a place to stay. Since George has an empty, though not yet renovated, apartment, Jesse suggests Kyle talk to him. This works for Kyle, whose first response to getting out of jail is to get drunk. Jesse works out the rental arrangement with George, then takes Kyle upstairs, gets him into bed and covers him.Jesse has a girlfriend, though Kelly has a drinking problems and sometimes doesn’t want to see him. He loves being with Kelly and her children Brianna and Chris, but Kelly seems now to be using him only to babysit, nor is she telling him what she’s up to while he feeds the kids, helps them with homework, and reads them bedtime stories.I don’t know that I can explain why I love Jesse. He is so honest about his feelings and so misused and mistrusted. We can all be seen as suspicious at times, but Jesse deals with it constantly, and he doesn’t turn mean, bitter, or manipulative.So, whenever things work out for him, even briefly, in some (usually unexpected) quarter, I feel so happy. If you haven’t read a Jesse novel yet, try this one, and then go back and read the other five. He’ll hook you. I can’t wait for number seven. I checked and the first five are available on Amazon. Judy Hogan***

KM Rockwood draws on a varied background for stories, among them working as a laborer in a steel fabrication plant, operating glass melters and related equipment in a fiberglass manufacturing facility, and supervising an inmate work crew in a large medium security state prison. These jobs, as well as work as a special education teacher in an alternative high school and a GED teacher in county detention facilities, provide most of the background for her novels and short stories.

About Me

I write mystery novels, poetry, autobiographical books, reviews and articles. My Hoganvillaea Farm provides about half my food. I sell eggs and figs. My newest book, Grace: A China Diary, 1910-16 came out April 12, 2017. The next Penny Weaver mystery comes out June 1,2017: Political Peaches. Formaldehyde, Rooster (2016, Nuclear Apples? The Third Penny Weaver Mystery, 2016. The Sands of Gower: The First Penny Weaver Mystery (2015), Haw (2016): The Second Penny Weaver Mystery. Killer Frost (2012) and Farm Fresh and Fatal (2013) will be re-published in 2017 This River: An Epic Love Poem came out from Wild Embers Press in 2014. You may order all the books from me, as well as my poetry chapbook Beaver Soul (Finishing Line Press, 2013) and This River:An Epic Love Poem (2014): PO Box 253, Moncure, NC 27559 mysteries cost $16, with postage, $19;Grace costs $28, $30 if mailed. Beaver Soul is $13; $16 if mailed. This River is $15 if picked up, $18 if mailed. My PMZ Poor Woman's Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes for Survival and Health in the Menopausal and Post-Menopausal Years. $10; $13 if mailed. I hold the copyright to all the material on my blog, which I've written.